SLEEP DISORDERS

Narcolepsy

I was utterly flabbergasted after seeing the video on Narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a sleep disorder that consists on sleep attacks at any time of a day. I did not consider it was that severe, but it was worse than I thought.

In the video, a man named Muhammad suffers from this sleep disorder. He has around 60 sleep attacks a day. He literally falls asleep while doing ANY activity. Because he falls down abruptly to the ground, he sometimes wears a helmet to avoid hurting his head.

Presently, there is no cure for this idiosyncratic and terrible disorder. Scientists believe that the lack of a hormone called hypocretin causes Narcolepsy. In addition, people who suffer from Narcolepsy also have Caterplexy, a sudden loss of muscle tone. When Muhammad falls asleep he has no control of his muscles, but he is fully aware of his environment.

According to MEDTV, about 200,000 Americans suffer from it. This makes me realize how fortunate I am. People with Narcolepsy are withdrawn of the world. Any activity, like driving and even washing dishes, can be life-threatening to the victims of this neurological disorder. Furthermore, because narcoleptic people can fall asleep anywhere, even on the streets, people usually think that they are alcoholics.

I personally consider that Narcolepsy is one of the most awful sleep disorders. It can devastate your social and personal life. What is easy to normal people is complicated for the narcoleptic victims. They can easily get hurt and can struggle to be hired for a job or keep a conversation going.

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Photos:

http://richarizard.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/narcolepsy.jpg

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/l2x14qETS7E/1.jpg

SLEEPS AND DREAMS

Why Do We Dream?

Some weeks ago, I used to pay no heed to dreams. But it has come to my knowledge that they are of great significance in our lives. They are meaningful, have a purpose, and even hold the answers to our questions. Dreams truly are a fascinating world packed with the psychology of human nature. 

Fifty-five years ago, the neuroscientist Nathaniel Kleitman discovered the different stages of sleep, including the REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, during which our body is paralyzed. Many people thought that dreams were only present during that stage, but studies have shown that you dream in both REM and NON-REM sleep. What caught my attention, though, was the fact that 75% of REM sleep has negative emotions. According to the video, the amygdale, which handles intense fears, becomes activated during REM sleep, causing the negative feelings.

Some people think that dreaming is a way of keeping us asleep, while others believe that dreaming is a motivational system needed for the search of answers. In reality, dreams do tell much of our psychological health. Dr. Antonio Zadra had a mathematical way of deciphering dreams; he counted the number of times someone dreamt a certain thing. He concluded that 80% of our dreams have misfortune and that ¾ of our dreams are negative. Clearly, our dreams express our emotional and social concerns.

Although most of our dreams are negative, they do have a positive impact on our society. To a tribe of Canada, for example, dreams are noteworthy. Dreams are part of their culture; they are brought together by dreams every time they assemble to discuss their significance.

I firmly deem that dreams give us the answers to questions. In fact, thanks to his dreams, the famous Dmitri Mendeleev was able to sort out how to organize the elements in his recognized Periodic Table. Besides, dreams also are a learning method. Dreams link your past memories and their experiences for your improvement in memory. According to Dr. Antti Revonsvo, nightmares are also beneficial - they serve as a training system to prepare us for the real world.

Dreams are definitely an extraordinary world that has never ceased to puzzle us. Why do we dream? Whether it is to find the answers we have longed to find or whether it is to reorganize information, dreams hold the truth of the psychological nature of human beings. Dreams always say what they mean; they are the only ones that can justly reveal what is inside our mind without distorting whatever the truth might be.

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Photos:

http://kurdt.blogspot.es/img/dreams.jpg

http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/mfl/lowres/mfln689l.jpg

“ALONE” VIDEO

Sensory Deprivation and Its Effect on the Brain

What would the world be like if we couldn’t see, hear, smell, taste, or touch? Well, that is what happens in a form of torture known as sensory deprivation, in which the brain is deprived of stimulation. In the 1950s, sensory deprivation was used in the Korean War to brainwash and torture soldiers.

Nowadays, psychologists are studying the effects of sensory deprivation. Six people volunteered to conduct an experiment concerning sensory deprivation. For 48 hours, they were isolated to examine the effects on their brains. All of them were tested before the experiment. They thought it would be an easy thing to do, but they were wrong.

The psychologists covered the subjects’ eyes, ears, and hands. Additionally, the volunteers were locked in individual dark rooms. They had no one to talk to and they were recorded throughout their isolation.

After 24 hours, the subjects had unsettling reactions. They paced endlessly back and forth, talked alone, and one of them even saw a snake.

This same behavior was shown by a man called Paris during his solitary confinement in jail. He walked 22 hours a day, and after 18 years, he was freed and found innocent. Paris lost his ability to follow simple directions and nowadays, he can’t drive in busy streets. 

After 48 hours, the subjects had finally finished their time in seclusion. The volunteers were petrified after hearing a voice from the speaker telling them that the time was over - they had gotten used to the silence.

The subjects were given a mental test after the experiment. Indeed, the tests prior to their isolation were better than the tests taken after the 48-hour period. The volunteers' ability to complete the simplest tasks had deteriorated. The lack of stimulus had negatively affected their brains.

Sensory deprivation is definitely a mental torture. People exposed to it can be traumatized and can suffer from anxiety and hallucinations. Brain connections are lost and one can surely end up crazy. Sensory deprivation is inhumane; it is worse than any kind of torture because it leaves you with psychological problems. I myself wouldn’t stand being alone. 

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Photos:

http://scienceblogs.com/neurophilosophy/total_isolation_sensory_deprivation.bmp

http://www.cartoonstock.com/cartoonview.asp?search=site&catref=mhen185&MA_Category=&ANDkeyword=hallucinations&ORkeyword=&TITLEkeyword=&NEGATIVEkeyword=

Mental Abilities: Genius, Savant and Autism

1. Explain in detail what "savant syndrome" means.

-Savant Syndrome is an infrequent condition in which a person with various disorders, including the autistic disorder, has a spectacular and brilliant ability. This condition can either be genetic or acquired through a brain injury later in childhood or adult life.

-People who have the savant syndrome also have an autistic disorder, mental retardation, or a brain injury that occurs before, during, or after birth. It turns out to be that 50% of the persons with savant syndrome have autistic disorder.

-The most common savant abilities are called “splinter skills.” These skills refer to memorization of music, numbers, maps, or historical facts. Music, artistic talent, and calendar calculating are common among savants. Two types of savants include talented savants and prodigious savants. A prodigious savant, though, is one who has an outstanding and spectacular skill. There are fewer than 50 prodigious savants worldwide.

-Savant Syndrome occurs four to six times more frequently in males than females. This is because the autistic disorder is seen more in the male gender. High levels of testosterone in the male fetus produce brain injury in the left hemisphere, therefore causing mental disabilities such as the autistic disorder.

2. What does genius mean?  Explain the difference between genius and savant.

-A genius is a person who is not only incredibly intelligent, but also extraordinarily creative. Geniuses use their intelligence and imagination to discover and invent things. Most geniuses have high IQ scores and are multi-talented in various fields. While a genius is versatile, a savant is only amazingly brilliant in one area. Hence, savants are not considered geniuses because they are not good at everything. 

3. What is a stroke and how could it affect your mental functioning?
-A stroke, or “brain attack,” is a condition in where a blood clot or ruptured artery/blood vessel interrupts blood flow into the brain. This produces a lack of oxygen and glucose to the brain, leading to a brain injury and the death of brain cells.

-A stroke may result in an impairment of speech, movement, and memory. Smaller strokes result in a weakness of arms and legs, while a larger stroke may lead to death or paralysis. People who have suffered from strokes are left with weakness in one side of the body, bladder problems, and difficulty in speaking.

4. What is a functional MRI and how does it help us understand brain activity?
-A functional MRI is a device used to measure brain activity. According Dr. Paul Christo, the functional MRI, “tracks an increase of blood flow to specific blood vessels that accompanies neural activity in the brain.”
-The functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is used to study the anatomy of the brain, to determine which part of the brain is responsible for critical functions (speech, thought, movement), to evaluate the effect of strokes and other diseases on the brain, and to supervise any brain tumors.

5. What is the corpus callosum and what role does it play in your brain's activity?

-The corpus callosum is a wide, flat group of nerve fibers that connect the Right and Left Hemispheres of the brain.  It is made up of 200-250 million nerve fibers. According to some studies, the corpus callosum is 11% larger in left-handed people than in right-handed people.
-The main role of the corpus callosum is to facilitate the connection and communication between the Right and Left Hemispheres. It permits them to exchange information rapidly and precisely.

6. What is epilepsy and how might it affect your brain's abilities?

-Epilepsy is a brain disorder in which neurons signal unusually. During epilepsy, the regular pattern of neuronal activity becomes disturbed, causing “strange sensations, emotions, and behavior, sometimes convulsions, muscle spasms, and loss of consciousness.” Neurons may fire as many as 500 times a second.

-This disorder is caused by seizures; it is not caused by a mental illness. If severe, though, epilepsy may cause brain damage.

7. What is autism?

-Autism is a complex developmental disability. It is a neurological disorder that affects the normal brain function, causing a person to have issues with his or her communication and social skills. It is widely believed that autism appears during the first three years of a person’s life.

-People with autism make little eye contact, do not like physical contact, and find loud noises really unpleasant. Most of the people that suffer from autism have repetitive behaviors (routines) and severe problems with their speaking skills.

8. What is Asperger's Syndrome?

-Clinicians define Asperger’s Syndrome to be, “persons who are at the high functioning end of the Pervasive Developmental Disorders and Autistic Disorders spectrum.” Asperger’s Syndrome shares many characteristics with autism: unusual memory, social uneasiness, strong attachments to objects, and obsession to sameness (routines). People who suffer from Asperger’s Syndrome, though, have an unusual interest in natural sciences, complex calculations, and computer programming; have an early development in language skills, and more social skills than those people with autistic disorders. Savant skills are prominent in people who have Asperger’s Syndrome

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Links: 

-Information:

http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/savant_syndrome/frequently_asked_questions#q1

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/info/autism/

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-genius.htm

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/7624.php

http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/info.cfm?pg=fmribrain

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/corpus-callosum-function.html

http://www.medicinenet.com/seizure/article.htm

-Photos:

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_pashdf8IiYY/SnLtMxDKcqI/AAAAAAAAAeM/glGQGUH7Z44/s1600-h/Savants.jpg

http://web.mac.com/jrc/Genius/Genius256.jpg

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7zQULPNQ7FQ/S73du7iJGvI/AAAAAAAAAmg/M-BQ2wcj6WE/s400/17133.jpg

http://biologybiozine.com/images/tech_09.jpg

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/trite001/studyinghumananatomyandphysiology/8753.jpg

http://autismawarenessjewellery.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/einstein-raz-271x300.jpg

Synesthesia

1. What is Synesthesia?

            Synesthesia is a condition in which stimulation of one sensory modality activates the experience of another sensory modality. For example, when printed letters or numbers have a personality; when days appear in shapes; when sounds have a taste, or when music is seen in colors.

            People experience their “synesthetic experiences” without any effort. This condition is very rare: only one person in every 100 in 200 experience it. Although some people consider it an impairment, others say that it helps them to be more creative. Synesthesia varies in each person and it is said to be genetic, although sometimes it can be caused by a brain injury, during meditation, or through the use of some drugs.

2. What is Grapheme-Color Synesthesia?

It is a type of Synesthesia in which words, letters, or digits induce colors.

3. What is Ordinal-Linguistic Personification?

It is a form of Synesthesia in which ordered sequences, like ordinal numbers, days, months, and letters, are associated with personalities.

4. What is Number-Form Synesthesia?

It is when a mental number map appears after seeing any number form.

5. What is Sound-Color Synesthesia?

It is a type of Synesthesia in which sounds or musical notes induce colors.

6. What is Lexical-Gustatory Synesthesia?

In this type of Synesthesia, words and phonemes of spoken language evoke taste sensations in the mouth.


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Links:

-Information:

http://www.synesthesia.com.au/id1.html

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/syne.html

http://www.uel.ac.uk/psychology/research/synaesthesia/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia#Number_form_synesthesia

-Photos:

http://blog.bn.ee/2006/09/09/synesthesia-my-synesthetic-alphabet/

http://www.anabiosispress.org/the_squares.html

http://facebookcraze.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/tag-your-facebook-friends-personalities.jpg

http://www.lucypepper.com/pt/component/contentbloglist/?task=listmonth&year=2008&month=6&section_id=6&id=6

http://www.squidoo.com/SquidWhoForum

http://www.funegreets.com/birthday/bday7.htm

ACCIDENTAL GENIUS

Better than Genius

I find it quite incongruous that savants are NOT considered geniuses. Although savants lack many skills, they are EXCEPTIONALLY good in one area.  They may be thought as “mentally retarded people,” but I think that they are remarkable, gifted people.

According to Dr. Darold Treffert, there are three types of savants: a normal savant (who has a skill that is not useful), a gifted savant (who has a conspicuous skill), and a prodigious savant (who has an amazing skill). George Widener, Leslie Lemke, and Tommy McHugh are all savants.

George is a “Calendar Calculator” - he can tell the day of the week of any date he is given. After Neurologist Joy Hirsch conducted an MRI on his brain, she discovered that George’s brain is unusually organized. Leslie Lemke is another inspirational savant; he is blind, but can play any piece of music on the piano after hearing it.

After Tommy McHugh had an accident that caused him brain impairment, he became a savant. He began to paint amazingly, but his wife was actually scared and left him. Tommy wanted help, so he wrote 60 letters in rhyme to doctors around the world. Dr. Alice Flaherty, from Harvard, understood his case because she herself had suffered from a trauma. She studied Tommy’s brain scans and discovered that bleeding had caused pressure in his frontal and temporal lobes, producing instability and creativity.

Cases like these ones have revealed that savants have a more dominant Right Hemisphere, the part of the brain that focuses on creative skills. Kim Peek and Daniel Tammet are staggeringly prodigious savants. I was shocked when I realized what their abilities were. Kim Peek memorized 9,000 books and can read 500 pages in 1 hour, reading two different pages at the same time. Daniel Tammet recited the first 22,514 digits of Pi. So how come savants are not considered geniuses?

I deeply reckon that savants don’t lack learning disabilities; on the contrary, they have a greater learning capacity than anyone. Whether savants are born that way, like George, or made that way, like Tommy, does not matter. Savants are better than geniuses.

Photos:

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wxx0O304NQM/TU3A1q8S-FI/

AAAAAAAAAqA/99y1tp-4xEY/s200/george-widener.jpg

http://www.wisconsinmedicalsociety.org/system/files/IMG.jpg

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2008/08/12/article-1043692-

023126EA000004B0-276_468x310.jpg

http://lpc1.clpccd.cc.ca.us/lpc/jones/Kim%20reading.jpg

http://talentdevelop.com/WordPress/wp-content/uploads

/2010/03/Daniel_Tammet.jpg

NATURE VS. NURTURE: INTELLIGENCE

Practice Makes Perfect

            In the 1970s, chess was mastered by men. But Susan Polgar would prove otherwise. Susan Polgar was born in 1969, and currently, she lives in NYC. As a little girl, his father wanted to teach her mathematics, but accidentally, Susan found a chess game.

            Her father taught her how to play chess and took her to chess competitions, where she won against male competitors. Susan became an instant genius. When she was 15 years old, Susan was the best chess player in the world and at 21, Susan was the #1 chess player in between 600 male players. Nowadays, she defeated USA champion in less than 60 seconds. According to a maze experiment, women only look at specific details and not at the big picture, as men do. “Looking at the big picture” helps men play chess better than women, but Susan was able to prove that women can also master chess.

            How does Susan succeed at chess? “Chunking,” a technique that consists of breaking things apart to remember them better, is used by Susan. As a girl, Susan practiced chess for 6 hours a day. During her practices, she saw 100,000 different chess chunks, which turned into LONG-TERM MEMORY. There are about 4 billion possibilities of chess moves. The brain uses INTUITION, a learned skill that relies on calculating patterns, to select the correct chess moves. 

            Scientists have conducted brain scans on Susan’s brain. The MRI revealed that the part of her brain that recognizes faces is mostly used to play chess. Susan is able to recognize chess moves in about 1 second.

            Susan’s son and sisters, Sophia and Judith, are also chess players. Susan’s little boy is presently a USA champion. However, chess is NOT a genetic thing, it is a SKILL THAT IS PRACTICED. Playing chess develops the brain; the more you practice, the more you will do well at it. Susan’s chess practice as a little girl shaped her genius chess skills as an adult.

Photo:

http://www.newswise.com/images/uploads/2009/03/12/fullsize/0_Susan_TT.jpg